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Dec 22, 2012
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now it does go to the senate where harry reid and mcconnell can try to come to some, you know, functional su render for republicans and kick the cannon a lot of other issues and see if that can pass in the next ten days am buts that still has to pass the house. and i tnk t chances of backing off of the cliff are higher than they ever have been. >> you know, i listened to some of these recalcitrant house republicans today, mark. and they were saying, i was to the going to vote for a tax increase when my constituent was never have gone along with that. >> well, i think there are two realities, here, judy. first of all there's a lot of republicans, more than a few democrats who are terrified of one thing, that's being primary, primary opponent without going to run on your right if you are a republican. on your left if you are a democra it really become a probm for republicans. because this has been an article of faith that said before it is since 1990 that any republican in the house or the senate voted for a tax increase on capitol hill. any republican. now of the 2 41 republicans now in th
now it does go to the senate where harry reid and mcconnell can try to come to some, you know, functional su render for republicans and kick the cannon a lot of other issues and see if that can pass in the next ten days am buts that still has to pass the house. and i tnk t chances of backing off of the cliff are higher than they ever have been. >> you know, i listened to some of these recalcitrant house republicans today, mark. and they were saying, i was to the going to vote for a tax...
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Dec 26, 2012
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what is mitch mcconnell thinking in the senate? >> he is a fascinating part of this. first of all, he is probably going to vote against any deal that raises taxes. whether he actively whips against it or lets it go, there is a number of senate republicans who seem open to upper income tax increases. some of the new england moderates, scott brown and susan collins. it doesn't seem like it would be as challenging to get something out of the senate. he is not going to stick his neck out and get something to the senate floor to have the house blow it up. >> marty, we have heard voices saying the same thing. you have tom coal saying we should go long with the tax increases. >> even in the minority. the republicans were 20 votes short. we sometimes forget, that's significant. they were only 20 votes short. nancy pelosi and the democrats, the idea of getting all the democrats to sign and bring the bill to the floor. if you can get 15 it 20 republicans to also sign on, maybe the tom cole types, they say we are not going to get a better deal and we don't want the party to pay
what is mitch mcconnell thinking in the senate? >> he is a fascinating part of this. first of all, he is probably going to vote against any deal that raises taxes. whether he actively whips against it or lets it go, there is a number of senate republicans who seem open to upper income tax increases. some of the new england moderates, scott brown and susan collins. it doesn't seem like it would be as challenging to get something out of the senate. he is not going to stick his neck out and...
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Dec 24, 2012
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senate majority leader harry reid, minority leader mitch mcconnell will have to try to hammer out some sort of a compromise to avoid going over the cliff, but as you pointed out in your introduction, a lot of senators over the weekend expressed concern that, in fact, we will go over the fiscal cliff. of course, if is that happens, the economy could eventually slip back into recession. one interesting point, thomas, though, last time that members of congress worked between christmas and new year's was 1996. that was during the government shutdown. this is really a rare occurrence for members of congress to have to come back and work out legislation that they went able to get done before the christmas holiday. >> the president is supposed to stay there for how long? >> well, of course, the white house not really giving us specifics about the president's travel plans at this point in time. the reality is i think the president is himself trying to figure out what he is going to do, but we do expect that he will cut his vacation short. you've heard the president himself during his press con
senate majority leader harry reid, minority leader mitch mcconnell will have to try to hammer out some sort of a compromise to avoid going over the cliff, but as you pointed out in your introduction, a lot of senators over the weekend expressed concern that, in fact, we will go over the fiscal cliff. of course, if is that happens, the economy could eventually slip back into recession. one interesting point, thomas, though, last time that members of congress worked between christmas and new...
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Dec 22, 2012
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mitch mcconnell at this moment may help harry reid make that happen in a very quiet way. but have you other peop but you have other people who simply won't follow. it's difficult to lead people who are not playing by the normal rules of pragmatic politics and compromise, giving their views are out of step with the country. >> i will tell you, the representative is nodding with you in agreement. representative john yarmuth and mr. john harwood. thank you, happy holidays. >> same to up. >>> straight ahead, pulitzer-prize winning author john mae meacham, and the impact that the benghazi report may have on hillary clinton's possible run. if you think running a restaurant is hard, try running four. fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores. rewards we put right back into our business. this is the only thing we've ever wanted to do and ink helps us do it. make your mark with ink from chase. this reduced sodium soup says it may help lower cholesterol, how does it work? you just have to eat it as p
mitch mcconnell at this moment may help harry reid make that happen in a very quiet way. but have you other peop but you have other people who simply won't follow. it's difficult to lead people who are not playing by the normal rules of pragmatic politics and compromise, giving their views are out of step with the country. >> i will tell you, the representative is nodding with you in agreement. representative john yarmuth and mr. john harwood. thank you, happy holidays. >> same to...
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Dec 23, 2012
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leader mitch mcconnell has guided our party and our conference through the past six years. he is a gifted leader and one that i have witnessed time and again has come up with strategies that have gotten things done in the right way. senator jon kyl and i have worked on immigration and death tax relief. senator lamar alexander and i have championed the america competes act so that we would continue the priity of scientific research and that we would never fail to invest in our future because it is the sequel for our economy. i am very pleased that the distguished ranking member of the judiciary committeend the finance committee, finance committee now and judiciary before, is also on the floor and has been a wonderful friend to me, helping me in my very first election when he was the rock star at my fund-raisers in texas. and i thank senator orrin hatch for his long leadership in ts body. and i have had the wonderful good fortune to serve with two colleagues from my home state. first, senator phil gramm, who was a wonderful mentor and colleague. they broke the mold after sena
leader mitch mcconnell has guided our party and our conference through the past six years. he is a gifted leader and one that i have witnessed time and again has come up with strategies that have gotten things done in the right way. senator jon kyl and i have worked on immigration and death tax relief. senator lamar alexander and i have championed the america competes act so that we would continue the priity of scientific research and that we would never fail to invest in our future because it...
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Dec 24, 2012
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what about senate minority leader mitch mcconnell? >> well, the thing at this point and i'm told by sources is that there are no negotiations going on between senator mitch mcconnell, the republican leader in the senate, and senator majority leader harry reid in hawaii for the funeral of daniel inouye and is now back to washington. it would come down to the senate doing something. senator mcconnell might allow this bill i mentioned that i already passed in july, was a threshold for tax hikes, being at the $250,000 level, he may allow democrats to say, the house has to take this, or if there is some sort of vote on another measure, while mitch mcconnell would be unlikely to support it, perhaps he might let some of his republican senators do that, now, this is sort of thinking, coming from democrats, this is not something that mitch mcconnell at this point is planning to do, and it's very much unclear. the fact is, it doesn't just matter what the senate does, don, the house would have to pass something. and whatever were to come out of
what about senate minority leader mitch mcconnell? >> well, the thing at this point and i'm told by sources is that there are no negotiations going on between senator mitch mcconnell, the republican leader in the senate, and senator majority leader harry reid in hawaii for the funeral of daniel inouye and is now back to washington. it would come down to the senate doing something. senator mcconnell might allow this bill i mentioned that i already passed in july, was a threshold for tax...
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Dec 24, 2012
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point is not in discussion with not only speaker john boehner but the senate minority leader, mitch mcconnell and perhaps because of that, you have some of that pessimism of senator liberman being shared by republicans. >> when i listen to the president, i think the president is eager to go over the cliff for political purposes and sees a political victory at the bottom of the cliff. gets additional tax revenue, gets to cut the military which democrats have been calling for for years and blame republicans for it. >> now, all eyes are now on the senate, which will reconvene on thursday. seen as likely that president obama will head back to washington from hawaii here. senate minority leader harry reid has the task of trying to conjure up something that might be able to pass the house in addition to the senate publicly. the white house is saying they want tax rates to remain in effect for those making up to $250,000 per year, but it's unclear if that's something. very unclear, very unquestioned that house republicans could swallow that. we're hearing aing you significant possibility we go over
point is not in discussion with not only speaker john boehner but the senate minority leader, mitch mcconnell and perhaps because of that, you have some of that pessimism of senator liberman being shared by republicans. >> when i listen to the president, i think the president is eager to go over the cliff for political purposes and sees a political victory at the bottom of the cliff. gets additional tax revenue, gets to cut the military which democrats have been calling for for years and...
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Dec 26, 2012
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we know there's not been communication between boehner and mcconnell, obama and boehner. are you amazed with this short amount of time to go there seems to be no sense of urgency on either side? >> am i amazed, given what we went through with the debt ceiling, no, i'm not amazed. i think there are forces here in this town that would like for us, sure people would like for there to be a deal, but going over the cliff on january 1st when there's this notion where it's not really a cliff, it's a slope, it's a curb depending who you talk to, that you can repair the damage if you get a deal done, you know, a few days after january 3rd. i think people feel like they can slow walk. as we saw last week when plan b failed, you know, speaker boehner said it's up to the white house and the democrats to come up with a deal. >> washing my hands with it. what's interesting is what you just touched on, conventional wisdom has grown now to it's a cliff, it's a cliff, we can't go off it, to we're okay for two to three weeks afterwards, the treasury can stay in place. do you think they wan
we know there's not been communication between boehner and mcconnell, obama and boehner. are you amazed with this short amount of time to go there seems to be no sense of urgency on either side? >> am i amazed, given what we went through with the debt ceiling, no, i'm not amazed. i think there are forces here in this town that would like for us, sure people would like for there to be a deal, but going over the cliff on january 1st when there's this notion where it's not really a cliff,...
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Dec 26, 2012
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>> the ball seems to be in mitch mcconnell's court. does he filibuster anything that harry reid ends up making with president obama? we have a paired down legislation extending for income below $250,000 and doing something with unemployment insurance that you were talking about? the question is a senate filibuster, democrats need 60 votes and republican votes, mcconnell ends up filibustering and will there be senators who support the legislation and blocking the filibuster. a lot of gymsmanship and republicans when you lock at the situation in the house and the inability to pass along the other things, they are on the verge of taking a lot of blame if they filibuster the legislation and the house doesn't act on it. >> and only democratic support developing here. how much is he going to agree with the president when he has the election in 2014? some folks don't want to appear in any way too close to president obama right now. >> let's move on in terms of massachusetts. we got the information that ted kennedy jr. will not run. scott brow
>> the ball seems to be in mitch mcconnell's court. does he filibuster anything that harry reid ends up making with president obama? we have a paired down legislation extending for income below $250,000 and doing something with unemployment insurance that you were talking about? the question is a senate filibuster, democrats need 60 votes and republican votes, mcconnell ends up filibustering and will there be senators who support the legislation and blocking the filibuster. a lot of...
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Dec 27, 2012
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reid, mcconnell, boehner and pelosi. . joining me to talk more, we have peter alexander standing by at the white house as well as nbc's mike viqueira on capitol hill. some verbal smackdown, basically flipping the lights back on and harry reid taking to the floor to eviscerate speaker boehner. >> the sad part is you often seen the floor opened that way. mitch mcconnell being later today. i'm sure we'll hear something later. to hear it two days after christmas and a matter of days before we go through the fiscal cliff, obviously not encouraging. harry reid says time is running hout. he doesn't know if they could go through the legislative hurdles. if they have the votes around here, they can legislate the sky is green and the grass is blue. that's not an issue. what harry reid is really saying is mitch mcconnell, get on board, don't try to filibuster. of course they're talking about a bill that had raise capital on couples making more than $250,000 a year, and do a few other nuts and bolts that are deemed the bare minimum th
reid, mcconnell, boehner and pelosi. . joining me to talk more, we have peter alexander standing by at the white house as well as nbc's mike viqueira on capitol hill. some verbal smackdown, basically flipping the lights back on and harry reid taking to the floor to eviscerate speaker boehner. >> the sad part is you often seen the floor opened that way. mitch mcconnell being later today. i'm sure we'll hear something later. to hear it two days after christmas and a matter of days before we...
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Dec 27, 2012
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whether mcconnell will filibuster such a deal and will boehner allow a vote. the strategy he indicated moments ago. that doesn't look like good news with the frosty exchange of statements between house speaker boehner yesterday and majority leader reid. the statements indicated this political paralysis we have been stuck in for several days. the question is he seems out and can they do the little things to get us past the deadline. >> i want to go back to you. procedurally, we know how hard it is for any type of bill, even if they agreed on it to move forward by that deadline. explain why that's so hard? >> consider the likelihood that mitch mcconnell does not insist on that plateau. such a bill that goes back to the house of representatives, the senate sent the same bill back to the house in august. how is john boehner going to get the votes for that when he couldn't get the votes for plan b to raise taxes on only those making $1 million a year. it seems unlikely that the current course we are in will be the solution. we have gone nowhere here. peter is right
whether mcconnell will filibuster such a deal and will boehner allow a vote. the strategy he indicated moments ago. that doesn't look like good news with the frosty exchange of statements between house speaker boehner yesterday and majority leader reid. the statements indicated this political paralysis we have been stuck in for several days. the question is he seems out and can they do the little things to get us past the deadline. >> i want to go back to you. procedurally, we know how...
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Dec 23, 2012
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according to mcconnell supporters he prefers biden who is known by some in the west wing as the mcconnell whisperrer because he sees negotiating as a political horse trading. would it make sense for joe biden to handleal the situation or to negotiate himself? >> i think the price president biden is very adept at handling this situation if the president wants him to do so. this issue was discussed, debated and decided in the november election. and so i know senator mcconnell might want vice president biden to work with him on this issue but it's the president who was selected by the american people to move forward on his agenda. so regardless of what senator mcconnell wants we need to come up with a solution to this issue. >> politico reports his new toughness is rooted in the nature of his convincing november win. so either of you who feels like starting, does the president deserve any blame for the collapse of negotiations or is it expected given that he did win the election? >> he did win the election but has to take some sort of blame, as well. if you look at the great negotiations bet
according to mcconnell supporters he prefers biden who is known by some in the west wing as the mcconnell whisperrer because he sees negotiating as a political horse trading. would it make sense for joe biden to handleal the situation or to negotiate himself? >> i think the price president biden is very adept at handling this situation if the president wants him to do so. this issue was discussed, debated and decided in the november election. and so i know senator mcconnell might want...
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Dec 28, 2012
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john boehner and mitch mcconnell representing the republicans. brianna keilar live now from washington. great to see you. house doesn't return to work until sunday. logistically speaking here, is there still enough time to work out a deal? >> i will tell you logistically speaking, logistically speaking, yes. politically speaking, very much unclear, there's a growing amount of pessimism about whether or not that can be done. we've been talking for days about how eyes are on the senate to see what harry reid cobbles together to try to get republican support in the senate and house. he's saying it's hard to see how this can get done by january 1st. so we're seeing a lot of managing of expectations and certainly a lot of posturing on both sides as it appears they're getting ready to play the blame game should we go over the cliff. listen to both sides. >> republicans are not about to write a blank check for anything senate democrats put forward just because we find ourselves at the edge of the cliff. >> we are here in washington working while the mem
john boehner and mitch mcconnell representing the republicans. brianna keilar live now from washington. great to see you. house doesn't return to work until sunday. logistically speaking here, is there still enough time to work out a deal? >> i will tell you logistically speaking, logistically speaking, yes. politically speaking, very much unclear, there's a growing amount of pessimism about whether or not that can be done. we've been talking for days about how eyes are on the senate to...
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Dec 27, 2012
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>> senator mcconnell's probably in the best position. he's in very close touch with the president, the white house and democrats in both the senate and the house have been in very close coordination throughout this. they have been in lockstep. it was interesting to note that when we saw the plan "b" chaos just before christmas the house democrats stood firm. they stood united. historically, that's not the play of the democratic party but that does seem to be where the democrats are right now. the president is back today so there can be an opportunity for some discussions to resume. but boehner has made it clear that's it up to the senate at least in his opinion to make the next move. >> david, senator reid today accused speaker boehner of ca caring more about his job than, quote, keeping america on firm financial footing. >> right. >> that's the quote there. congressman tom cole asked about that earlier today. this was his answer. take a listen. >> he had the complete support of everybody for plan "b" and support in terms of speakership
>> senator mcconnell's probably in the best position. he's in very close touch with the president, the white house and democrats in both the senate and the house have been in very close coordination throughout this. they have been in lockstep. it was interesting to note that when we saw the plan "b" chaos just before christmas the house democrats stood firm. they stood united. historically, that's not the play of the democratic party but that does seem to be where the democrats...
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Dec 24, 2012
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senate majority leader harry reid, minority leader mitch mcconnell will have to work together. a lot of focus shifts to mcdonnell. he has to try to get something that will pass with republicans that they can get through the house and senate, but i think president obama certainly has a role to play. remember, he is the one who ran on the platform. >>> you heard him map out on friday. he would like a scaled-back version of the grand bargain, something to prevent taxes going up, and also lay the groundwork potentially for deficit reduction in the future. i think you will see president obama cut his vacation short, and continue to play a role in those negotiations. richard. >>> kristin, over the weekend, he attended the funeral for the late senator inouye, who he has called an inspiration to him. what did you see in that service? >> well, more than 20 members of congress attended, mostly democrats, majority leader harry reid spoke and praised senator inouye for his partisan spirit, reaching across the aisle. of course in an earlier memorial service, the president called the late se
senate majority leader harry reid, minority leader mitch mcconnell will have to work together. a lot of focus shifts to mcdonnell. he has to try to get something that will pass with republicans that they can get through the house and senate, but i think president obama certainly has a role to play. remember, he is the one who ran on the platform. >>> you heard him map out on friday. he would like a scaled-back version of the grand bargain, something to prevent taxes going up, and also...
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Dec 27, 2012
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mcconnell: i'm going to proceed in my leader time. the presiding officer: the senator has that right. mr. mcconnell: madam president, you'll excuse me if i'm a little frustrated at the situation we find ourselves in, but last night president obama called myself and the speaker and maybe others from hawaii and asked if there was something weekend do to avoid the fiscal cliff. i say i'm a little frustrated because we've been asking the president and the democrats to work with us on a bipartisan agreement for months, literally for months. a plan that would simplify the tax code, shrink the deficit, protect the taxpayers, and grow the economy. but democrats consistently rejected those offers. the president chose instead to spend his time on the campaign trail. this was even after he got reelected. and congressional democrats sat on their hands. now republicans have bent over backwards. we stepped way, way out of our comfort zone. we wanted an agreement, but we had no takers. the phone never rang. and so now here we are five days from the
mcconnell: i'm going to proceed in my leader time. the presiding officer: the senator has that right. mr. mcconnell: madam president, you'll excuse me if i'm a little frustrated at the situation we find ourselves in, but last night president obama called myself and the speaker and maybe others from hawaii and asked if there was something weekend do to avoid the fiscal cliff. i say i'm a little frustrated because we've been asking the president and the democrats to work with us on a bipartisan...
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Dec 23, 2012
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finally, mitch mcconnell has stayed on offense. on the senate floor on friday he argued the democrats poisoned the well by declaring boehner's plan b dead on arrival. >> and he is up for reelection in 2014. by all polling, it looks like it will be a lot tougher. he also has a colleague in rand paul, who is a tea partier. you put all those factors together and it could be that mcconnell may have to step up because that is what you have to do to get some sort of deal at the moment, we have not seen that happen. host: from mark williams, what will be specifically affected in the economy if we go over the cliff? guest: instead of giving you my own numbers, let me use the congressional budget office estimates. if we go over the cliff, and if the clip stays in place for the whole year -- clef stays in place for the whole year, gdp will go into negative territory. that will push this into a short-term recession. economic growth below zero. unemployment will rise from current levels to about 9%. we will put in place the worst fiscal policy
finally, mitch mcconnell has stayed on offense. on the senate floor on friday he argued the democrats poisoned the well by declaring boehner's plan b dead on arrival. >> and he is up for reelection in 2014. by all polling, it looks like it will be a lot tougher. he also has a colleague in rand paul, who is a tea partier. you put all those factors together and it could be that mcconnell may have to step up because that is what you have to do to get some sort of deal at the moment, we have...
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Dec 27, 2012
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as for the senate minority leader mitch mcconnell, i think that is a good one. a lot has been made in the past few days about him taking a higher profile role in these negotiations. while i don't like prognosticating into the future, we can look at the past in some of the previous negotiations of congress and the kind of role he has played. almost all of these talks, whether it was about government shutdown in the spring of 2011 or the debt limit debate in the summer of 2011 or the payroll tax-cut debate last year, those negotiations started at a level between the president and speaker but always broke down at that level and that pushed to the senate where harry reid and mitch mcconnell had to figure something out and get enough votes for it so they could give some cover to the house republicans, who were joined by a large majority of house democrats to get something done. the idea that we have come to this state is not necessarily surprising. that it has taken us so long to get there has probably frustrated everyone who wanted to take a holiday break. if mitch
as for the senate minority leader mitch mcconnell, i think that is a good one. a lot has been made in the past few days about him taking a higher profile role in these negotiations. while i don't like prognosticating into the future, we can look at the past in some of the previous negotiations of congress and the kind of role he has played. almost all of these talks, whether it was about government shutdown in the spring of 2011 or the debt limit debate in the summer of 2011 or the payroll...
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Dec 22, 2012
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>> mcconnell is worried. he and polling about ashley judd, if he is polling he is worried. his numbers are not great and his colleague was not his choice, rand paul, to be the other senate, he was the tea party candidate. so mitch mcconnell is worried. >> she can bring in a lot of outside money, coming in from around the country and hollywood. >> she can, she has a few problems. she lives in tennessee and scott land where her husband is from. so a lot of kentucky voters will say, what does she have to do with us anymore. she has name recognition though, and in the game of running for political office that is important. >> another development, south carolina, nicki haley there announcing she was picking congressman tim scott to replace jim demint. and scott will be the only african american in the senate and one of only a handful in the history of the senate. who will replace scott may be the question here. ? well there's certainly any number of candidates, strom thurmond ran against tim scott before. there's always the possibility, mark san ford, this will be a hotly contes
>> mcconnell is worried. he and polling about ashley judd, if he is polling he is worried. his numbers are not great and his colleague was not his choice, rand paul, to be the other senate, he was the tea party candidate. so mitch mcconnell is worried. >> she can bring in a lot of outside money, coming in from around the country and hollywood. >> she can, she has a few problems. she lives in tennessee and scott land where her husband is from. so a lot of kentucky voters will...
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to get a debt ceiling increase, both speaker boehner and the republican leader in the senate, mitch mcconnell have made it clear, you want $1 trillion of more debt ceiling, because that's what the president is running, $1 trillion more debts, you have to cut it at the same time. they won it a year ago. they'll win it in the future. this is a long fight. it's four years of a fight. it's not one week of a fight. to your earlier question, does the president want to take us over the cliff? i think now he does. the reason is he needs an excuse for the next four years of failure. blaming it on bush doesn't work very much. the regulations and spending he's put on the economy for the next four years is going to put us in recession regardless of the fiscal cliff. >> to be fair, i'm told there are a number of republicans, especially in the house, who want to go over the cliff for the reason i explained, that they'd much rather vote for a tax cut than a tax increase because they don't want to break your pledge. grover, thank you very much. appreciate it. >> no one should break their pledge. >> merry chr
to get a debt ceiling increase, both speaker boehner and the republican leader in the senate, mitch mcconnell have made it clear, you want $1 trillion of more debt ceiling, because that's what the president is running, $1 trillion more debts, you have to cut it at the same time. they won it a year ago. they'll win it in the future. this is a long fight. it's four years of a fight. it's not one week of a fight. to your earlier question, does the president want to take us over the cliff? i think...
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it is not clear whether mitch mcconnell wants to play a role because he has a campaign coming in 2014. for some people on the far right, the idea that mitch mcconnell would make a deal with obama could be acceptable. you have 10 or more republican senators who say they are willing to do business with president obama in terms of approving an increase in the marginal tax rates. if that is the case, if you could get them to pass some kind of bill and then send it on to the house, and all boehner said was i will allow a vote, and you have democrats and some republicans feeling pressure joining in, you could get a bill done. host: rick is from massachusetts on our independent line. caller: good morning. i have a problem with the president. he is the most divisive individual who has come to power in this country for a long time. he completely denied his white relatives and blames all the problems on white men by buying the votes of the lower earners in this country by saying it is not your fault. he promised to bring this country to gather. what happened? guest: i am surprised. upper income
it is not clear whether mitch mcconnell wants to play a role because he has a campaign coming in 2014. for some people on the far right, the idea that mitch mcconnell would make a deal with obama could be acceptable. you have 10 or more republican senators who say they are willing to do business with president obama in terms of approving an increase in the marginal tax rates. if that is the case, if you could get them to pass some kind of bill and then send it on to the house, and all boehner...
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Dec 29, 2012
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mitch mcconnell. [applause] >> over the years, we recognized many remarkable men and women in this place of honor. all of them extraordinary. it would be foolish to make comparisons among them. for me at least, today's ceremony was particularly meaningful. i first came to know the woman we honor today two decades ago. and told the story of her struggle. and to make that cause -- it was impossible not to be moved by her quiet resolve, her hidden, luminous heroism and it is impossible today all these years later not to be moved by the fatah that this most unlikely of revolutionaries may yet witness the deepest longings of her heart. representative, democratic system in which the people of burma are able to fully enjoy their god-given rights. it is in this hope that we stand today with the people of burma and with aung san suu kyi knowing that whatever the future holds, she will fight unflinchingly to the end. in this place surrounded by the statues of our own national heroes and equality, we draw inspir
mitch mcconnell. [applause] >> over the years, we recognized many remarkable men and women in this place of honor. all of them extraordinary. it would be foolish to make comparisons among them. for me at least, today's ceremony was particularly meaningful. i first came to know the woman we honor today two decades ago. and told the story of her struggle. and to make that cause -- it was impossible not to be moved by her quiet resolve, her hidden, luminous heroism and it is impossible today...
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Dec 27, 2012
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he needs mcconnell. if he can get mcconnell and a couple senate republicans, then -- >> what about the body of 40 or so tea partiers who are holdouts. how does he reach them? the ones necessary for any kind of majority? >> he doesn't necessarily need them. if he can get senate republicans, then -- >> is that his game right now to go around his hard core right? >> it is. because then the hard core right isn't just blaming john boehner for all the troubles of the world. they're also -- >> can he allow the house of representatives to work its will with the minority of republicans? >> yes, he can. >> glen, is this your view? if we get a sol lux next week it's probably because a speaker allows a minority of republicans, maybe less than 100, to agree with some 120 democrats and out of that will be a deal because it came through the senate somehow that they both had to go that way. is that how it looks like it will develop here? >> that was the undercurrent to what harry reid said today is if this guy opens thi
he needs mcconnell. if he can get mcconnell and a couple senate republicans, then -- >> what about the body of 40 or so tea partiers who are holdouts. how does he reach them? the ones necessary for any kind of majority? >> he doesn't necessarily need them. if he can get senate republicans, then -- >> is that his game right now to go around his hard core right? >> it is. because then the hard core right isn't just blaming john boehner for all the troubles of the world....
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Dec 28, 2012
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>> talk about the reid/mcconnell special relationship. they were the two that cobbled together deals. 2011 is a great example. will they have a three-peat here? >> again i'm not bullish on this. i think robert might be a little more than i am. i think it would require a lot of courage on mcconned to put something through that democrats like and to impress upon john boehner to get this to the floor of the house i think could put -- on the bright side it could put him in a heroic position. >> very quickly. >> mcconnell is in a tricky position. >> he is looking a the 2014. thank you both so much. >> thank you. >>> >>> today's tweet of the day is about the milk cliff. glen johnson tweets amid talk of milk going up to $7 a dplon, with no deal, we'll all just start drinking gas then. [ male announcer ] with over 50 delicious choices of green giant vegetables it's easy to eat like a giant... ♪ and feel like a green giant. ♪ ho ho ho ♪ green giant >>> the uncertainty caps off a huge year in politics. joining me is a raching, thanks for bein
>> talk about the reid/mcconnell special relationship. they were the two that cobbled together deals. 2011 is a great example. will they have a three-peat here? >> again i'm not bullish on this. i think robert might be a little more than i am. i think it would require a lot of courage on mcconned to put something through that democrats like and to impress upon john boehner to get this to the floor of the house i think could put -- on the bright side it could put him in a heroic...
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Dec 24, 2012
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success depends partly on whether mitch mcconnell decides to filibuster any legislation. there is senate republicans who are willing to compromise in order to avoid the fiscal cliff. including kay bailey hutchison of texas and johnny isakson of georgia. >> time is running out. and the truth of the matter is, if we do fall off the cliff after the president's maturitied, he'll come back, propose just what he proposed yesterday in leaving washington and we'll end up adopting it. why should we put the markets mn such turmoil and the people in misunderstanding or lack of confidence? why don't we go ahead and act now? >> the president is insisting tacks go up for the wealthy, but he's now scaled back his expectations for the rest of the year focusing only on a middle class tax cut and extended unemployment benefits. he said he still thinks some kind of deal can be reached, but that optimism is not shared by everyone. >> in the aftermath of the house republicans rejecting speaker boehner's so-called plan b, it's the first time that i feel it's more likely that we will go over th
success depends partly on whether mitch mcconnell decides to filibuster any legislation. there is senate republicans who are willing to compromise in order to avoid the fiscal cliff. including kay bailey hutchison of texas and johnny isakson of georgia. >> time is running out. and the truth of the matter is, if we do fall off the cliff after the president's maturitied, he'll come back, propose just what he proposed yesterday in leaving washington and we'll end up adopting it. why should...
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Dec 23, 2012
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and it seems that unlikely that senate minority leader mitch mcconnell would want to negotiating? that he doesn't feel will be able to also pass the house, which would require the support of some house republicans and that's part of the reason why this is such a difficult task and it has really been thrown into question whether or not the country is going over the fiscal cliff. the senate will reconvene, it is on xenlg actual reconvene september 27th that is on thursday. and i think the expectation is that at some point, president obama would go back to washington, especially if there's this possibility that the country goes off of the fiscal cliff. he wouldn't obviously want to be here in hawaii when that happens, miguel. >> just sounds like it is a very complicated game of chicken. the president is attending a very somber event today. the body of hawaii senator daniel inouye is being interred. what can you say about the ceremony? >> reporter: this is the national cemetery of the pacific, referred here in honolulu as the punch bowl. this is a cemetery where a number of people who
and it seems that unlikely that senate minority leader mitch mcconnell would want to negotiating? that he doesn't feel will be able to also pass the house, which would require the support of some house republicans and that's part of the reason why this is such a difficult task and it has really been thrown into question whether or not the country is going over the fiscal cliff. the senate will reconvene, it is on xenlg actual reconvene september 27th that is on thursday. and i think the...
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mcconnell's office responded with while the president was taping those discordant remarks senator mcconnell was in the office work to go bring republicans and democrats to get on the solution. discussions continue today. >>> joining me, doug shawn, former pollster for president bill clinton. nancy, media speaks strategy and national spokesperson to senator john mccain. >>> the president goes on "meet the press" and claims it's the fault of the awful republicans and that angers mcconnell, who lashes back out. so that was clearly a calculated risk by the president, angrying your opponent versus pressuring him publicly to cave. which way does it go? >> we don't know. we're all pretty pessimistic given the breakdown the talks today but i think the president's strategy is to keep constant pressure on the republicans, recognizing this battle is not going to be over whether or not there's a deal. it's going to go on dealing with the debt sciele and the budget and the president is not letting up. he said he won the election and that's how econducting himself. the polls are pretty clear that he's go
mcconnell's office responded with while the president was taping those discordant remarks senator mcconnell was in the office work to go bring republicans and democrats to get on the solution. discussions continue today. >>> joining me, doug shawn, former pollster for president bill clinton. nancy, media speaks strategy and national spokesperson to senator john mccain. >>> the president goes on "meet the press" and claims it's the fault of the awful republicans and...
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senators reid and mcconnell are discussing potential agreement. where we get a bipartisan bill out of the senate. over to the house and done in a timely fashion. so that we met the december 31 deadline. given how things have been working in this town, we always have to wait and see until it happens. one thing the american people should not have to wait and see is some sort of action. if we don't see an agreement between the two leaders in the senate, i expect a bill to go on the floor and i asked senator reid to do this, put a bill on the floor that makes sure that taxes on middle class families don't go up, that unemployment insurance is still available for 2 million people. and that lays the groundwork for additional deficit reduction and economic growth steps we can take in the new year. let's not miss this deadline. that is the bare minimum we should be able to get done. it shouldn't that hard since democrats and republicans both say they don't want to see tax goes up on middle class families. i just to have to repeat. outside of washington, n
senators reid and mcconnell are discussing potential agreement. where we get a bipartisan bill out of the senate. over to the house and done in a timely fashion. so that we met the december 31 deadline. given how things have been working in this town, we always have to wait and see until it happens. one thing the american people should not have to wait and see is some sort of action. if we don't see an agreement between the two leaders in the senate, i expect a bill to go on the floor and i...
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>> well, let's listen to senator mcconnell. more of what he has to say. because his words haven't provided much comfort to those who feel that the senate should be serious in its obligation to the american people. let's take a listen. >> as i indicated, the president called me and probably called others last night. my impression is he would like to see if we can move forward. we don't have very many days left. and i've indicated i'm willing to enter into a discussion, see what the president may have in mind. >> now, mcconnell said, look, the president should have been talking like this months ago. well, you were trying to unseat him. that was your major obligation. you told us that. now that you're back on board here, does this sound like something sincere? or is this more posturing, do you think? >> only his campaign manager knows for sure. you know, he has -- he has a serious threat as relates to his re-election ability, and bowyer has a serious problem when it comes to being re-elected speaker. as a politician you start dealing with re-election you're
>> well, let's listen to senator mcconnell. more of what he has to say. because his words haven't provided much comfort to those who feel that the senate should be serious in its obligation to the american people. let's take a listen. >> as i indicated, the president called me and probably called others last night. my impression is he would like to see if we can move forward. we don't have very many days left. and i've indicated i'm willing to enter into a discussion, see what the...
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the only thing that would prevent it is if senator mcconnell and speaker boehner don't cooperate. this is from the white house yesterday. do you believe that to be the case? >> no, i don't believe that to be the case. listen, a year ago august when the president was negotiating with the speaker, they were very close to the big deal that needs to be struck. and this isn't a one party or a one house problem. this is leaders of both parties and all branches of the government are not willing to make the deal that they know they have to make, and everybody wants their stuff but doesn't want to give up, you know, what they don't want to give up. >> you know, we're showing pictures right now of john boehner and president obama. john boehner from your state of ohio. there are a lot of people that say if the deal were between these two guys, it would be made. the problem is john boehner can't agree to something with president obama and then take it back to his own party. >> well, and vice versa. a year ago august the president couldn't agree to the deal he needed another $400 billion in re
the only thing that would prevent it is if senator mcconnell and speaker boehner don't cooperate. this is from the white house yesterday. do you believe that to be the case? >> no, i don't believe that to be the case. listen, a year ago august when the president was negotiating with the speaker, they were very close to the big deal that needs to be struck. and this isn't a one party or a one house problem. this is leaders of both parties and all branches of the government are not willing...
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Dec 28, 2012
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senate leaders harry reid and its mcconnell, house leaders john boehner and nancy pelosi. it was a done with vice- president joe biden and president obama to work on a short time fixed for the crisis. >> i hope there is a deal that avoid the worst parts of the fiscal cliff, mainly taxes going up and middle-class people. i think the odds are better than they could be that people think. >> the agreement would include not only an extension of middle- class tax cuts but would also extend unemployment benefits for millions. >> tax increases need to be avoided, they can be. in the end, we will get a deal. the question is the timing. it is encouraging that both sides continue to sit down and have lines of communication open. >> but a smaller deal will only leave a problem for the incoming congress in january. that is discouraging to america's ceo's. >> we still have the big problem of how we are going to fix our deficit and debt in the country. we know the parties have to work together, and we know we have to resolve this as quickly as possible. >> wall street is keeping a close
senate leaders harry reid and its mcconnell, house leaders john boehner and nancy pelosi. it was a done with vice- president joe biden and president obama to work on a short time fixed for the crisis. >> i hope there is a deal that avoid the worst parts of the fiscal cliff, mainly taxes going up and middle-class people. i think the odds are better than they could be that people think. >> the agreement would include not only an extension of middle- class tax cuts but would also...
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remember, we have to have that first vote done in a timely way so that both senator reid and senator mcconnell can leave to have the designated meeting with president obama. mr. cochran: mr. president, let me join with the senator from maryland in commending all senators for the expeditious way we've been able to move this bill but particularly the chairwoman herself, who's provided strong leadership, capable leadership, fairness, a sense of fairness for all senators, and i thank her for the honor of serving with her on this committee. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate senatorses can attend the weekly caucus meetings. this morning they approve and extension of the farm intelligence v it allows the government to continue intercepting overseas communication. it extends legal immunity phone companies that help the government wiretap the domestic phone calls. president obama plans to sign the bill. when the senate is back we are expecting senators to continued work on the $60 billion hurricane sandy relief package. negotiations continue on avoiding the so-called fiscal cl
remember, we have to have that first vote done in a timely way so that both senator reid and senator mcconnell can leave to have the designated meeting with president obama. mr. cochran: mr. president, let me join with the senator from maryland in commending all senators for the expeditious way we've been able to move this bill but particularly the chairwoman herself, who's provided strong leadership, capable leadership, fairness, a sense of fairness for all senators, and i thank her for the...
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Dec 22, 2012
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so house republicans have kind of abdicated their role in this to the senate minority leader mitch mcconnell. if perhaps he could get on board with something with democrats in the senate to move along, presumably that might be able to be pushed through the house. the house republicans at least some of them, would have to vote on that in order to pass it so they have some i guess influence in that regard, but really they've given away a lot of their -- almost all of their influence on what this package can ultimately look like. >> oh, dear, i'm not smelling a lot of hope. aloha. thank you very much, brianna keilar. >>> it's a wintry mess for much of the country today as americans gear up for holiday travel. this midwest blizzard is now ripping across the northeast. most of the problems are from high winds as high as 40 miles per hour. aaa predicts some 93 million americans will travel between now and new year's. but if the roads look anything like this, you may want to stay home. >>> alexander steele is in the cnn weather center. what's the latest on the storm? >> this holiday has been fraugh
so house republicans have kind of abdicated their role in this to the senate minority leader mitch mcconnell. if perhaps he could get on board with something with democrats in the senate to move along, presumably that might be able to be pushed through the house. the house republicans at least some of them, would have to vote on that in order to pass it so they have some i guess influence in that regard, but really they've given away a lot of their -- almost all of their influence on what this...
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Dec 30, 2012
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harry reid and mitch mcconnell are the key players. he sounded frustrated after not receiving a counter-offer. a key member of the leadership team offered this update. >> offeringses and discussions between and we remain hopeful that will get a breakthrough. obviously what happened here between the two leaders in the senate had broken down because the senate democrats failed to come forward with a counter offer to the proposal the republicans made last night. hopefully the discussions between the.and senator mcconnell will get us on track. >> republican aides recognize the consequences if it falls apart. everybody gets a tax increase in 48 hours. >> well, it's less than 48 hours now. i'm wonder, are the democrats fighting among themself? >> there's a battle over social security. republicans are including a new way of calculating inflation to lower payments to recipients of social security. democrats had could consider it if it's part of a $4 trillion package. now republicans say it's off the table and key democrats are hopeful senate l
harry reid and mitch mcconnell are the key players. he sounded frustrated after not receiving a counter-offer. a key member of the leadership team offered this update. >> offeringses and discussions between and we remain hopeful that will get a breakthrough. obviously what happened here between the two leaders in the senate had broken down because the senate democrats failed to come forward with a counter offer to the proposal the republicans made last night. hopefully the discussions...
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Dec 30, 2012
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but because i think it's been very hard for speaker boehner and republican leader mcconnell to accept the fact that taxes on the wealthiest americans should go up a little bit. as part of an overall deficit reduction package. >> you talk about a dysfunction in washington. you signed this legislation setting up the fiscal cliff 17 months ago. how accountable are you for the fact that washington can't get anything done and we're at this deadline again? >> well i have to tell you, david, if you look at my track record over the last two years, i cut spending by over $1 trillion in 2011. i campaigned on the promise of being willing to reduce the deficit in a serious way, in a balanced approach of spending cuts and tax increases on the wealthy, while keeping middle-class taxes low. i put forward a very specific proposal to do that. i negotiated with speaker boehner in good faith and moved more than halfway in order to achieve a grand bargain. i offered over $1 trillion in additional spending cuts. so that we would have $2 of spending cuts for every $1 of increased revenue. i think anybody o
but because i think it's been very hard for speaker boehner and republican leader mcconnell to accept the fact that taxes on the wealthiest americans should go up a little bit. as part of an overall deficit reduction package. >> you talk about a dysfunction in washington. you signed this legislation setting up the fiscal cliff 17 months ago. how accountable are you for the fact that washington can't get anything done and we're at this deadline again? >> well i have to tell you,...
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you heard mitch mcconnell say he's hopeful and optimistic. will congress pass something in the next 48 hours, something? to avoid the fiscal cliff? >> i don't know. but, i guess, probably. and it will be a bad deal but i suppose better than doing nothing. and, every working american's taxes will go up january 1st if they do nothing about the payroll tax, a pretty big increase, and, defense cuts and everyone agrees, with that policy to have middle class americans' taxes go up, and, it totally irresponsible defense cuts and this is what congress thinks is a good deal. >> chris: i'm not sure it is a good deal but avoids the worst of the fiscal cliff. senator bayh -- obviously, we don't know, what is your sense, no filibuster in the senate? you heard lindsay graham and do republicans pass whatever the senate agrees to? >> the odds are somewhat better than 50/50 we get a minimal deal in the senate. not one that solves our debt problem, as you pointed out earlier and this is a prequel to going through it again around the first of march over the deb
you heard mitch mcconnell say he's hopeful and optimistic. will congress pass something in the next 48 hours, something? to avoid the fiscal cliff? >> i don't know. but, i guess, probably. and it will be a bad deal but i suppose better than doing nothing. and, every working american's taxes will go up january 1st if they do nothing about the payroll tax, a pretty big increase, and, defense cuts and everyone agrees, with that policy to have middle class americans' taxes go up, and, it...
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guest: mcconnell is up for reelection in 2014. if he agrees with the white house on something, particularly tax increases, it will hurt him in his election. remember rand paul -- mcconnell has less room to maneuver. for harry reid, a lot of his reputation is on the line. can he put something on the floor of the senate that some democrats will support? guest: the biggest loser is the unemployed and those trying to get jobs. that is what this is about. really, people need to step back and realize, while we are concerned about deficits, it is because it is a concern about the economy. there are different prescriptions for the economy at different times. allowing this recovery to slow down, even as it has already been anemic, would be a drastic abdication of responsibility by everybody in washington. that is not to say that everybody is equal to blame and this is something that washington does and be covered along -- that really is not always the case. in this specific case, you have our recovery, you have people ignoring what common
guest: mcconnell is up for reelection in 2014. if he agrees with the white house on something, particularly tax increases, it will hurt him in his election. remember rand paul -- mcconnell has less room to maneuver. for harry reid, a lot of his reputation is on the line. can he put something on the floor of the senate that some democrats will support? guest: the biggest loser is the unemployed and those trying to get jobs. that is what this is about. really, people need to step back and...
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we are expecting to hear from republican leader mitch mcconnell, maybe even senate majority leader harry reid, as of now so far as we know there is no fiscal cliff deal, but negotiations primarily betweens those two men are going on even as we speak or between their staffs. we're hearing a new sense of optimism from some senate members who believe they might be able to pass some kind of minimalist package that would keep tax rates from going up on the majority of americans. i want to go to capitol hill and cnn's senior congressional correspondent dana bash. dana, is that the sense you get that somehow we should be optimistic about whatever it is that's going on? >> you know, as we talked about before, you definitely get a feeling or the atmosphere here is that there is progress being made but in the same breath, but, there are still thingsing to worked out. as we wait for what we generally see when the senate opens which is the pledge of allegiance, a prayer and so forth, if you see the bottom of your screen, i'm not sure if you can see it, white hair, that is harry reid, the senate majo
we are expecting to hear from republican leader mitch mcconnell, maybe even senate majority leader harry reid, as of now so far as we know there is no fiscal cliff deal, but negotiations primarily betweens those two men are going on even as we speak or between their staffs. we're hearing a new sense of optimism from some senate members who believe they might be able to pass some kind of minimalist package that would keep tax rates from going up on the majority of americans. i want to go to...
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well, bill, you just heard mitch mcconnell say he is hopeful and optimistic. will congress pass something in the next 48 hours, something to avoid the fiscal cliff? >> i don't know. but i guess probably. and it will be a bad deal but i suppose better than doing nothing. amazing every working american's taxes will go up on january 1. they are doing nothing about the payroll tax which is a big increase, 2%. and we will have totally irresponsible defense cuts. everybody agrees this is probably bad policy to have middle class americans taxes go up and this is what congress thinks is a good deal. >> chris: i'm not sure they think it is a good deal but a deal that avoids the worst of the fiscal cliff. senator bayh, obviously we don't know what is your sense? no filibuster in the senate. you heard what lindsey graham said and do republicans pass whatever it is that the senate agrees to? >> i think the odds are some what better than 50/50, chris, that we get a minimal deal in the senate. not one that solves our debt problem as you pointed out earlier and this is all j
well, bill, you just heard mitch mcconnell say he is hopeful and optimistic. will congress pass something in the next 48 hours, something to avoid the fiscal cliff? >> i don't know. but i guess probably. and it will be a bad deal but i suppose better than doing nothing. amazing every working american's taxes will go up on january 1. they are doing nothing about the payroll tax which is a big increase, 2%. and we will have totally irresponsible defense cuts. everybody agrees this is...
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i do think that mcconnell -- that's where he wants to be. can he get there in the next 24 hours? that's what we don't know. >> tom brokaw? >> well, it seems to me that the middle class is going to have a date for the prom. everybody is talking about protecting the middle class here. so i think this deal will probably get done around the middle class tax cut. it's at what level. $400,000 or $250,000 or some other number. which is going to be critically important. a lot of people don't realize in a large urban and suburban areas of america, $250,000 doesn't make you rich. you have two kids at college at $60,000, if you're a boomer, you may have a dependant parent of some kind, spending another $20,000 or $25,000 on. you have to have a definition of what is the middle class. to david's point, i do really believe that the president doesn't work hard enough at bringing everybody into the white house and rolling up his sleeves, having him in the living quarters, getting them around the table and saying how can we get this deal done? he didn't talk downstream about tax reform, for examp
i do think that mcconnell -- that's where he wants to be. can he get there in the next 24 hours? that's what we don't know. >> tom brokaw? >> well, it seems to me that the middle class is going to have a date for the prom. everybody is talking about protecting the middle class here. so i think this deal will probably get done around the middle class tax cut. it's at what level. $400,000 or $250,000 or some other number. which is going to be critically important. a lot of people...